Knitting machine



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T. JDNES KNITTING MACHINE 'Filed Jan. 27, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l H iIIIIIIU/IIHIII Il l I HI I HHIUHHHHI Feb. 16 1926(3 "n". H. JQNES KNI TTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 27, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 16 1926., 3,573,614

ns-z. JONES KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 27, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 enable numerous end veried pr,

lllatented Feld7 lid,

THOE'AS JLITES,

ENE@ I Application 'led Jennery To aZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, 'lHoMAs HENRY donne, British subject, residing et Breek Hill ldead, llf'oodthorpe, Nottingham, England, have invented new and useful improvements in or Relating to Knitting lilachines, of which the following is a specification.

.'lhis invention comprises improvements in or relating to knitting machines7 end has more perticular reference to the production ot double thread fabrics composed oi plating and ground threads, the object ot the invention being to enable a great range -or variation of patterns and effects to be produced in such fabrics by simple end i'nproved means for hfeeding the threads t e needles, the invention being applicable to circuler, fiat bar or warp machines.

According to my invention'ineens corporated :tor so operating controlli the movement of the threadH guides so effects to be produced at w ll stance, as vertical, horiz/oi stripes, squares or diamon". and control or the guides t of circular knitting maclii nicans oi suitably shaped or designe tern rings.

For the purposeo'f more rally the nature oil my seid invention9 ry v will *now be ina-de to the ec-eonip di awings; wherein l is arpartfsectional elevation i ltratingfthe` present invention applied to a rcircular `knitting machine. Qlisv aside elevational vien7 oi l looking ,in the direction ci arrow Fig. 3 illustrates in side elevation and Figure i in end elevation suitable mechenisni-r i`or- 'transmitting movement to cern member shown in Figure 2 'for retainiT AA thread guides in a iiXed position, and releasing said guides at predetermined interva s. 5 is ay part sectional detail vien sho ingA modified means 'for controlling the movement oi a cam or pattern ring-which transmits movement to the thread guides.

@ne convenient method oi carrying ont the invention will now be described as npplied to a circular knitting machine ot the latch needle type. n

Fixed to a suitable stationery part the machine on the exterior of end adinetthe rotating needle cylinder Il is e bracket :EG-BAEL ETGLANE).

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or block 2 having a vertical bore or passage i "ough which slidably accommodates pirnger or spindle 3. rlhis spindle tends down below the bracket 2 to a suitable extent and has lateral projecting arm d secured near its lower end between which and ""ie underside of the guide bracket- 2 is provided a coiled spring 5, which spring surr nnds the spindle 3 and tends to pui saine downwards. The upper end of the sliding spindle 3 projects beyond the bracket 2 is pivotelljy connected to two lever members S7 'l eonstitnting the guides or riers for the plating and ground threads,

` ending in e radial or approxirnenner towards the needle the two levers, herend the needles being pivoted tc position on the opposite e i3, the arrangement bea Tertical movement' of c in either direction etects e 'fili-reed guide and a oor- ;novement of` the other ofing either plating und thread into the fed to the needles, enc

else bring either of sem prominence at the 'iront o tne .oe appreciated that id of the spindie 3 operidee o, 'l pred produce patterns cf e ric. Preferably, ons rn or cam rings is or of rings (two of erhielt id @ein .Figure i) he ng l@ cem bits which during ro'- caused to engage the lower end 'i elly displaceable spindle 3 end wardly against its spring 5g rising the' spindle to follow e the eonto r oi the pattern or cam ring on 'i the spindleP 3 is rei )7 both rings 8, 9 the lower end si seid spindle is enlarged en- A :n v if. 1 r-w f i o gage wi'tn `soeniings. lhe cam Arings o,

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movement of the thread guides 6, 7 ahd` consequently also the width of the stripe y' produced in the fabric.

Any suitable number of pairs ofv threadV guides as above may be incorporated on the machine, said number bein only limited by the number of thread'fee s.

Byvarying the shape of the .attern cam rings and the'speed of travelt ereof relative to the needles, the pattern'produeed mayI be varied in many ways. "For example, in a 'machine having a stationary cam box and revolving cylinder where a plurality of pairs of thread guides are utillzed and the pattern ring is timed to travel at the same speed as the needljs,fa number of parallel vertical stripes will b e produced. It, how- Ashaped cam wheel 2O which ever, the pattern ring is geared to travel slightly faster or slower than the needles, then diagonal stripes will resultIf again two pattern rings are provided each tra-velling in t e same direction at a. different speed, one faster and the other slower than the needles, one of said rings beine' caused to operate alternate pairs of thread guides, thn a diamond or crossed pattern will resu t.

It will thus be seen that bylthe employment of/difi'erent colours, qualities or kinds` of threads, numerous patterns and effects can be obtained.

Further, if the sliding spindle operating the thread guides be moved to a position in which the pair of guides are on a level, i. e.,

in the same horizontal plane, the two threads will be so fed to the needlesthat a random or uncertain pattern will result.

In some cases'also, it is desirable to X or lock the'thread ides so that one of thev threads is continua ly laid in the front and the other atthe back of the fabric for a predetermined number of revolutions of the needle cylinder, so as to provide a unicoloured band extending completely round the fabric at intervals, and in one method of accomplishing this an annular ring 1l may be slidably assemblediupon the machine bed or other part, said ring having a raised cam piece 12 fixed thereto (Figure 2).. Screwed into an outwardly projecting lip 13 on ring 11 is the one end of airod 14 which extends vtangcntially relative to said ring, and is pivotallyconnected at its other end within a slot 15 in a lever 16 pivoted between its ends at 17 to fixed bracket 18. Operating upon the cam truck or roller 19 at the lower end of lever 16 is a suitably at predetermined intervals rocks lever 16 on` its pivot 17 against the pull of spring 21 and shogs the rod lato push the cam 12 beneath the small arm 4`on spindle 3 and raise said spindle to av degree sutlicient to clear same ot' the rotating pattern rings 9, 10 5 thus retaining theguides from movement. I

suitable or known mechanism may be incorporated for rotating the cam 2O at the requisite speed for locking or 4fixing thc .guides 6, 7 at the required times. For example, as shown. in Figures 3 and Ll, a cam 22 on shaft 23 may b e caused to operate on a'lever '24 pivoted at 25 to rock same against the resistance of a spring 26, said lever 24 carrying a clawker 27 continually engaging with a ratchet wheel 28, which ratchet in rotation traverses a chain or band 29 having,r ratchet shaped high links 4or members 30 at intervals thereon. These links engage with and turn a further ratchet wheel 31, with `which the cam wheel 2O rotates in unison, a further ratchet 32 being alsoy preferably mounted to rotate with the wheels 31 and 20 and having a'spring pressed pawl 33 engaging therewith to prevent backward movement of said wheels. A spring pressed pawl 34C may also be rovided for retaining the ratchet 28"from ackward rotation.

In the modification shown in Figure 5 which is adaptable for use in a machine having a revolving cam box asingle patternor cam ring 9b is traversed to and-fro in a circular path to a short distance instead of being rotated completely round as in 'the foregoing/ arrangement. ATo accomplish this, agear wheel 35 rotating with the cam box. meshes with a bevel 36 on the worm vshaft .37, the rotation of said worm shaft turning 'the wormvwheel 38 and through the crank arm 39 and connecting link 40 transmittinga move the cam portion thereon into and out of engagement with the spindle 3.

The invention can be utilized in connection withvmachines producing either tucked with a rotatable cylinder carrying the needles, of guides for delivering thread to the needles, arranged to move so as to occupy alternately different positions, whereby thread from any guide may be transferred from the back to the front ofthe fabric, or vice versa, accordingly as the to and fro motion tothe ring 9b so as t0 I guide is operated, 'stationary supports for the thread guides, a patternv cam ring arranged concentrically with the needle cylinder and operating to directly move the thread guides' so as to deliver their threadsl to the needles to produce determined designe in the fabric being knitted, the ,cam ring being capable of variable rotary movements vwith reference to the movements of the needle cyl'11der,-whereby the thread `guides will function'in differently timed relations to the knitting operations to cause different effects in the completed articlcto be pro# duced, accordingly as the cam ring is op` erated. 1

2. The combination stated in clann l, in which are employed a pair of concentric vwhereby so long as the said cam piece is in operation thread from one of the guides is laid inthe front of the fabric, and from the other -at the back thereof, producing a circular band in the design beingvknitted4` and means whereby the said concentric ring is operated to move the cam piece into operation as may be desired.

THOMAS HENRY JONES. 

